Packaging of marshmallows



May 20, 1958 c. w. KAUFMAN 2,835,596 PACKAGING OF MARSH/[ALLOWS FiledJuly 15, 1954 United States Patent PACKAGING 0F MARSHMALLOWS Charles W.Kaufman, Gleuview, Ill., assignor to Kraft Foods Company, Chicago, Ill.,a corporation of Delaware Application July 15, 1954, Serial No. 443,596g 1 Claim. (Cl. 99-180) The present invention relates generally tomarshmallows and more particularly to the packaging of marshmallows.

As is well known, marshmallows are a relatively soft product and, whensubjected to pressure, they stick together. As a result, they haveprovided a substantial packaging problem. In an effort to preventpressurizing of the marshmallows, and sticking, the marshmallows havebeen packaged in rigid wall boxes. While this type of packagingtends toprevent pressurizing and sticking of the marshmallows, it is quiteexpensive to accomplish and requires substantial packaging equipment.

Sticking of marshmallows may also be reduced by reducing the moisturecontent of the product but, when such reduction in moisture is affected,the marshmallows lose their desired softness. Since softness ofmarshmallows is associated with freshness, reduction of moisture is tobe avoided, and indeed, higher moisture contents are desired.

In the past, marshmallows have been packaged in various films, as forexample cellophane, because of the economy and for the reason that theuse. of transparent materials with display of the product has certainsales advantages. However, such packaging has required special care inshipping and displaying of the product and has frequently resulted indeforming and sticking of the marshmallows.

A principal object of this invention is the provision of improved meansfor packaging marshmallows, which means are simple and economical, andwhich means permits substantial handling of the packaged marshmallowswithout damage to the marshmallows. A further object of the invention isthe provision of packaging means which makes possible packaging of highmoisture marshmallows without substantial sticking of the marshmallows.As will become more apparent hereinafter, these and other objects of theinvention are accomplished by packaging the marshmallows in a flexible,non-stretchable, substantially gas impermeable material which is sealedso as to prevent egress of air, the material enclosing a volumesubstantially in excess of the volume occupied by the marshmallows.

In the practice of the invention, a plurality of marshmallows are placedin a bag, which bag should be made of a material which is substantiallygas impermeable and relatively non-stretchable. The material maycomprise such materials as polyvinyl films, polyvinylidine chloridefilms, polyethylene films. The bag is proportioned to loosely fit aroundthe marshmallows and is sealed in such a way that air is entrappedwithin the bag, the amount of entrapped air is proportional to theamount of pressure of which the bag is subjected in shipment anddisplay. At a minimum, there should be enough air in the bag to permitthe marshmallows to be free-flowing so that during packaging, handlingand shipment of the bags, the marshmallows can move away from a point ofpressure and transfer any applied pressure withoutv squeezing themarshmallows.

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When marshmallows are packaged in the foregoing manner, the bags can beand have been subjected to those pressures which are encountered inpackaging, shipping, and handling without causing the marshmallows tosubstantially stick together or become deformed. Furthermore, the bagsmay be displayed in relatively high stacks which has not been possibleheretofore without applying the stacking pressure to the marshmallows.In addition, the features of the invention permit display of themarshmallows in bins with random distribution without substantial damageto the product. Such display of marshmallows is of substantial advantageto the merchandiser and is made possible, without substantial productdamage through the features of the invention.

Moreover, the features of the invention make possible economies inshipping costs. In this connection, compartmented cartons are notrequired to protect the individual bags and larger numbers of bags maybe placed in the shipping cartons. In addition, lighter weight cartonsmay be used for shipping since the boxed bags can be used to reinforcethe carton instead of the cartons being required to withstand all of-theshipping pressures.

As above indicated, when marshmallows have increased amounts ofmoisture,they are fresher and have improved body characteristics, but they alsotend to become more sticky. By means of the present invention, highmoisture marshmallows may be packaged in flexible bags and shipped andmerchandized without substantial sticking or deforming of themarshmallows.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the present invention, and in thedrawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the package of the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the longitudinal center line ofthe package of the invention, no pressure being applied;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, except that it illustrates theeffect of applying a pressure onto one face I of the package of theinvention, as when the packages are Figure 4 is a cross-sectional Viewalong the transverse center line of the package, showing the eifect ofapplication of pressure to one end of the package; and

Figure 5 is a view in perspective of a plurality of [116 bags in ashipping carton.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the package of the invention comprises atubular section 8 composed of a flexible, gas impermeable film material,preferably transparent for display purposes, the section being sealed atone end along the heat sealing line 11 to provide a bag it A pluralityof marshmallows 12 is included within the bag it) in ran dom relation.The volume of the bag 18, as has been indicated, is larger than thevolume of the marshmallows 12. The bag is also sealed along another line16 longitudinally spaced from the sealing line 11.

During the sealing of the bag, care is taken to incorporate air in thebag, which air is retained after complete sealing of the ends of thebag. As mentioned previously, the volume of the bag 10 is substantiallygreater than the volume occupied by the marshmallows 12 but when nopressure is applied the marshmallows may be so distributed that the bag10 rests on the product, as illustrated in Figure 2. When, however,pressure is applied to one face of the bag, as illustrated schematicallyby the arrows 18 in Figure 3 and as may be the case when the bags arestacked, the marshmallows are distributed away from the point ofpressure and an air cushion absorbs and distributes the pressure so thatthe individual marshmallows are not pressed together. It will beapparent that so long as the pressure applied to the bag is not inexcess of one which will rupture the bag or compress the air, the aircushion will be effective to resist substantial pressures withouttransmitting the effect of the pressure to the marshmallows contained,in the bag.

In Figure 5, there is illustrated a relatively light-weight cardboardcarton 19 having the usual side flaps 21 and 22 as well as end flaps 23and 24. A plurality of the bags 10 are enclosed within the carton 19 forshipping, with all of the walls of the carton 19 being incontact with atleast some of the bags it The air cushion provided within each of thebags 10 thus effectively reinforces the carton 19, thereby permittingthe use of lighter shipping cartons. Furthermore, it is not essentialthat the bags be stacked in any particular arrangement, as the bags canbe disposed randomly in the container 19 and still achieve thebeneficial results mentioned. It has been found, however, that the bagsshould be placed in the cartons with the longest dimension of the bagextending vertically so as to minimize the pressure on the bag (as shownin Figure In other words, if the bags are piled in the carton, thebottom bags are subjected to greater pressure and this should beavoided, if possible.

As a specific example of the invention, 35 marshmallows having a size ofabout, 1% inches in diameter and about 1 inch high were introduced intoa bag made from a polyvinyl chloride-polyvinyl acetate copolymer film.The bag was fabricated from a tubular section 8 of film having adiameter of approximately 5 inches, the section 8 being 8 inches long.One end of the tube was heat sealed and, after the marshmallows wereplaced into the bag, the bag was heat sealed at the other end along aline in close proximity to the end of the bag. Sealing was accomplishedWithout collapsing the bag substantially so as to entrap the air withinthe bag.

The dimensions of the bag was so related tothe volume occupied by themarshmallows within the bag such that the marshmallows were freelymovable within the bag. It has been determined that the volume of thesealed bag 10 should be at least two times the volume of themarshmallows.

When a five pound uniformly distributed pressure was if applied to theone face of the bag, the weight was supported by the cushion of airtrapped in the bag, and there was no substantial sticking of themarshmallows to one another. On the other hand, when a commerciallyavailable bag of marshmallows enclosed in cellophane was subjected tosuch pressure, substantially all of the marshmallows stuck together.

A plurality of the packages of the invention were randomly distributedin a bin, 25 bags being placed in a bin and being stacked about sixhigh. There was no substantial sticking of the marshmallows in any ofthe bags.

It has been found that it may be desirable to somewhat flatten the bagsbefore sealing so that the bags may be more easily piled. In otherwords, if the bags are sealed while in cylindrical shape, thegeometrical form of maximum volume, the bags are diflicult to stack inrelatively high piles for display purposes. However, care should betaken in flattening the bags, prior to sealing,

so that too much air is not excluded and the desirable features of theinvention are not enjoyed.

It will be appreciated that various sized marshmallows may be bagged andthat the ratio of volume of the bag to volume of marshmallows, abovespecified, will not apply for all sizes of marshmallows. However, sincemarshmallows are substantially uniform in size, as marketed, the abovespecified volume ratio is generally applicable.

It will be seen from the foregoing that a substantial improvement in thepackaging of marshmallows has been provided. As a result of thisimprovement, marshmallows may be easily and economically packaged, andmay be shipped and displayed with greater facility but with minimumsticking and deforming of the product.

The various features of this invention which are believed to be new areset forth in the following claim.

I claim:

A method for packaging marshmallows comprising the steps of placing aquantity of free .flowing marshmallows in a bag made from asubstantially gas impermeable and flexible material, said bag having amaximum volume substantially in excess of the volume of said quantity ofmarshmallows thereby allowing free fiow of marshmallows in said bag,maintaining said bag distended by in- References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,542,206 Nichols Feb. 20, 19512,604,244 Tripp July 22, 1952 2,623,826 Grinstead Dec. 30, 1952 OTHERREFERENCES The Manufacturing Chemist, October 1953, page 41.

Refrigerating Engineering, February 1954, pp. to 48 inclusive.

Modern Packaging, April 1954, pp. 80, 81, 82, 83 and 176, articleentitled Saran-Coated Cellophane.

